


Bird

by Kuukkeli



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Cancer, Established Relationship, Medical Procedures, Multi, Polyamory, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-03-31 07:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3968863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuukkeli/pseuds/Kuukkeli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You already know something about life."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bird

**Author's Note:**

> And this is the moment when you guys throw me in a volcano. 
> 
> I cried my eyes out while writing this, if that knowledge eases your pain.

“How much time does he have left?” Ratchet asked, standing behind Drift, watching the young man stare at the other man on the bed.

“The doctors say a month, at most”, was the feeble reply, no doubt he had cried at some point.

Wing had been in hospice for couple of weeks now. He wanted to be treated in his own home, close to Drift and Ratchet. He had been given diagnose for a prostate cancer six months ago. The cancer had been benign at first and it looked like Wing would survive with only a surgery.

But then everything took a turn for the worse; Wing’s health collapsed about a month and a half ago and he was taken to the hospital. More blood tests, cell and tissue examinations... All the test results indicated that the cancer had spread from the prostate to some of his lymph nodes and bones which caused immense pains.

To everyone’s shock, the cancer was very malignant, radiation therapy or hormone therapy or cytostatic treatment having no effect. Wing’s condition deteriorated while in the hospital and the doctors decided to start palliative care. They’d treat his pains with very strong analgesics, lessening his agony as the cancer raged in his body.

Because of the radiation therapy and cytostatic treatment, Wing had lost all of his body hair, including his beautiful white (which had red and yellow, too) hair. But to Drift and Ratchet, he still was beautiful as he’d always been.

Drift and Ratchet helped him in every way they could; they helped him to eat when he still had appetite but when he couldn’t swallow any more they switched to a nasogastric tube. They cleaned him whenever it was necessary and Ratchet inserted an indwelling urethral catheter when Wing wasn’t strong enough to get up anymore.

With every passing day, Wing became weaker and eventually he stopped eating all together.

The remaining time was easier when Ratchet was with Drift, looking after Wing and keeping each other company. It sure was a lot easier to take care of Wing since he was in his own home, surrounded constantly either by his nurses or Drift and Ratchet. There was always someone with him.

\----

It was now the last week of Wing’s last month and the man was so weak he slept all the time.

Wing couldn’t speak anymore so he uttered weak moans or other noises to communicate with the person in the room. He wasn’t in pain any more, thanks to the analgesics.

Drift was reading a book when he heard a stertorous exhale next to him. The young man turned immediately to Wing and saw him breathing shallowly.

“It’s all right, Wing. I’m right here”, Drift said with an already trembling voice, stroking the slightly bloated cheek. The doctors said something about it being normal for a dying person to gather fluid in their body as their kidneys started failing. Despite the swelling, Wing was emaciated.

“I love you”, he whispered and kissed Wing on his forehead, grasping the cold hand between his own, as if attempting to warm it up.

Then his cell phone buzzed and he reached for it. The incoming call ID said ‘Ratchet’ and he answered the call.

“Yeah?” he croaked, wiping the falling tears away, though more tears swelled in his eyes despite his efforts.

The man on the other end of the call said nothing at first, his steady breathing being the only indicator he hadn’t hung up.

 _“I’m on my way”_ , Ratchet finally said, and hung up.

After ending the call, Drift got up and went to get the nurses from downstairs. After the nurses were in Wing's room, he’d call for a doctor to come over. He walked slowly. He knew there was no need to hurry.

\----

Ratchet arrived half an hour later and as he stepped in the room, he was closed into a tight hug. He took a glance at the man lying on the bed and returned the hug, letting the tears he had held back the whole drive here stream freely down his cheeks.

Drift sobbed loudly against Ratchet’s shoulder, soaking the shirt.

“We’ll give you time to say the final goodbyes”, the doctor said softly, offering an empathetic smile, and left the room with the two nurses who had participated in Wing’s treatment to let the two men mourn in peace.

The room fell silent once the door closed. Ratchet walked to the bed, Drift right beside him, hands entwined.

The older man sat down on a stool, pulling Drift on his lap. Then a swallow flew past the window, its wings raising it high in the sky. Drift’s glimmering blue eyes followed the swallow’s flight and Ratchet kissed him on the cheek, a small smile appearing on both men’s face.

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by [Lintu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Beuc86hX4lw) by Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus.
> 
> Lyrics (translated as best as I could) (correct me if there are mistakes):
> 
> _I hardly know him and still_   
>  _I came to see him_   
>  _He's so very beautiful even now_   
>  _As he turns to look at me_
> 
> _This night is my last one_   
>  _I hear him say_   
>  _I'm a sick and tired human_   
>  _And that's why I want to leave_
> 
> _You already know something about life_   
>  _I do, too_   
>  _Only if you dared to stop being afraid_   
>  _You'll get the paradise back_
> 
> _He still continues, tears in his eyes_   
>  _Emphasizing every word_   
>  _He holds my hand in his tightly_   
>  _And says, watching me in the eyes_
> 
> _I don't regret anybody of those whom I embraced_   
>  _I loved them, after all_   
>  _I cry every one of those_   
>  _Whom past I walked_   
>  _Whom I evaded and escaped from_
> 
> _For every time I let a person near me_   
>  _I found myself to be close, too_   
>  _But if I protected and saved myself_   
>  _I strayed and froze right away_
> 
> _His gaze dies, he sighs_   
>  _His grasp lapses_   
>  _In that very moment, my eyes are blinded_   
>  _And the window of the room opens_
> 
> _When I look at him again, he's changed_   
>  _Into a bird right in front of me_   
>  _And the white wing of the bird_   
>  _I hold in my hand_
> 
> _The bird raises and takes flight_   
>  _I stay in my place, alone_   
>  _The figure moves away to the heights of heavens_   
>  _The room murmurs its emptiness_
> 
> _I sit quietly still and reminisce_   
>  _His last words_   
>  _I repeat them under my breath_   
>  _Now that he's gone_
> 
> _I don't regret anybody of those whom I embraced_   
>  _I loved them, after all_   
>  _I cry every one of those_   
>  _Whom past I walked_   
>  _Whom I evaded and escaped from_
> 
> _For every time I let a person near me_   
>  _I found myself to be close, too_   
>  _But if I protected and saved myself_   
>  _I strayed and froze right away_
> 
> (I assume the original lyrics were dedicated to a woman/girl but since in Finnish there aren't he/she pronouns but the third pronoun is genderneutral, it's hard to interpret which gender this song is dedicated to. But I translated the pronoun as 'he' since I wrote Wing as a male. I hope that rambling made at least a little bit of sense. :'D)


End file.
